After a series of spectacular fatal accidents in the Teens and early 1920s, the board-track racing era was coming to an end by 1925. Board tracks had once been the premier fighting grounds of motorcycle manufacturers showing their competition prowess and speed, as victory on the track sold motorcycles. While dirt ovals would continue for decades as the primary racing venue for amateur and professional riders, the sport of Hillclimbing really gained traction as board tracks were dismantled. From the earliest days of motorcycling, notorious ‘hills’ in every part of the country proved the mettle of underpowered pioneer machines, and climbing such a hill with ease became major selling points in early advertising.
As motorcycles grew more powerful, the hills got steeper, and the bikes more specialized for the sport, until hillclimbing became a kind of uphill drag racing. In its way, hillclimbing is as much a spectacle as board track racing, with a reduced capacity for gore, although falls are an essential component of the sport. Each rider revs his machine at full throttle before dumping the clutch, wheelying forward, and bounding up an extremely steep hill, which is typically ungroomed, and increasingly pockmarked as the day goes on. Riders bump, fly, and wrestle their mounts, and if they reach the top, typically go airborne several feet at the crest. If not, bike and rider have a ‘slide of shame’ down the steep hill face, until rescued by helping hands. The winner is the rider who covers the course in the shortest time.

Just as factories had built one-off exotica for the boards, they soon put extra resources into their hillclimbers, and professional racers usually tackled all varieties of the sport. Joe Petrali was at the peak of his racing prowess in 1925, when Harley-Davidson withdrew from direct sponsorship of racing; he was lured to Excelsior (part of the mighty Scwhinn bicycle group) at the end of the year. Petrali promptly won the Altoona race in 1926 aboard the new 45 cu-in. Excelsior Super X racer (he’d won it on a Harley the previous year), and began to experiment with factory race parts to create a specialized hillclimber. His inspiration was to use the Super X crankcase with a pair of racing cylinders from Excelsior’s 30.5 cu-in. single-cylinder half-mile dirt track engines, which had improved cooling for the exhaust valve via a new casting which allowed more air through the ‘F-head’ finning. These were the ‘M’ cylinders, developed by the legendary Arthur Lemon, which could be tuned for more power without overheating.
The pair of ‘M’ cylinders on the Super X crankcase make a 61 cu-in. V-twin with excellent horsepower, nicknamed ‘Big Bertha.’ Petrali raced both a 45 cu-in. OHV V-twin and ‘Big Bertha’ in hillclimbs, with devastating results – he carried the National Hillclimb Championship for 1928 and ’29, and won 31 hillclimb competitions in a row. In 1930, Gene Rhyne won the Championship with a Big Bertha, competing against the equally awesome Indian OHV 45 cu-in. hillclimber, with Howard Mitzell aboard. The year 1930 was a bad one for every financial activity, including motorcycle manufacture, and within a year, the ‘Big 3’ had become the ‘Big 2,’ as Ignaz Schwinn cut his losses with motorcycles, to concentrate on his bicycle business… which is why we all rode Sting-Rays as kids, but couldn’t buy an Excelsior.
Very few of these ‘Big Bertha’ 61 cu-in. Excelsior specialized hillclimbers were built. Their serial numbers read ‘SS10_,’ and it’s known SS101 still exists (in a replica chassis). As few as four of these machines were built, and the E.J. Cole bike, serial #SS104, purchased from R.L. Jones, is in remarkably original condition.

Information found on the website is presented as advance information for the auction lot. Photos, materials for videos, descriptions and other information are provided by the consignor/seller and is deemed reliable, but Mecum Auction does not verify, warrant or guarantee this information. The lot and information presented at auction on the auction block supersedes any previous descriptions or information. Mecum is not responsible for information that may be changed or updated prior to the auction. The decision to purchase should be based solely on the buyers personal inspection of the lot at the auction site prior to the auction.

Information found on the website is presented as advance information for the auction lot. Photos, materials for videos, descriptions and other information are provided by the consignor/seller and is deemed reliable, but Mecum Auction does not verify, warrant or guarantee this information. The lot and information presented at auction on the auction block supersedes any previous descriptions or information. Mecum is not responsible for information that may be changed or updated prior to the auction. The decision to purchase should be based solely on the buyers personal inspection of the lot at the auction site prior to the auction.